


On Two Wheels

by crone_zone



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Absent Parents, Adulting, Being a good big sister, Bisexual Saeko, Canon Compliant, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together, Haikyuu WLW Bang 2021, Lesbian Miwa, Mentions of Canonical Character Death (Kageyama Kazuyo), Mentions of alcohol, Miwa Hair & Makeup Artist, Miwa Study, Miwa bicycles, Saeko Bicycle Mechanic, Saeko motorcycles, Self-Discovery, hot women being hot, young professionals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29916219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crone_zone/pseuds/crone_zone
Summary: Miwa learned freedom whipping up and down the hills of Miyagi on her bike. Now that her life is infinitely more complicated, biking is the one thing she has that lets her feel like she can fly.The one thing, that is, until she walks into a bicycle repair shop calledSaeko's Cycles...🚲🚲🚲
Relationships: Kageyama Miwa/Tanaka Saeko
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Haikyuu WLW Bang





	On Two Wheels

Miwa loved volleyball. With all the certainty of childhood, Miwa vowed to herself she’d never love anything else as much as she loved volleyball. And then in the final year before she started high school, a girl called Nanako sat in front of her in homeroom. Nanako had the most beautiful inky-black hair that fell well past her shoulders, thick but sleek and so soft when Miwa had to tap her shoulder to get her attention. Sometimes she flicked it idly out of her way and it happened to fan across Miwa’s desk, black locks a welcome yet confusing interruption from Miwa’s studies. She spent most of class staring at the back of Nanako’s head. Miwa wasn’t quite sure what she felt about Nanako’s hair or what it meant, but she knew one thing: starting now, she was growing out her own hair.

Things only got more complicated from then on. In high school, the girls’ volleyball team sign-ups were spearheaded by two third-years who didn’t seem to want anything to do with the first-years. When Miwa approached excitedly with a classmate, the third-years barely gave them a glance before they refused both of their sign-up sheets. Miwa was told she wasn’t allowed to keep her long hair, and her classmate was told she wasn’t allowed to keep her glasses. Her classmate walked away dejectedly, muttering about not being able to wear contacts, but Miwa was fuming. _No one_ was going to tell her to cut her hair. _No one_ was going to tell her what to do. So Miwa quit volleyball, just like that. Her childhood certainty about volleyball had suddenly been eclipsed by other, much-less-certain things. Her poor classmate with the glasses peered longingly at the team from the stands when they were brought by their teacher to cheer, but Miwa wanted nothing further to do with them.

Not having an extra-curricular or a sport to keep her occupied and active, Miwa found herself bored one evening and rummaging through her grandfather’s garage. She discovered her grandmother’s old bike under a moth-eaten cover and was soon whipping up and down the big hills of the prefecture on any given evening, her long ponytail streaming proudly behind her.

High school was a time when most of her friends started to be interested in dating boys. Miwa began to receive a fair share of boys’ sloppy confessions but none of them seemed to capture her attention, so she politely turned down each of them in turn. When she saw Nanako at school with a new boyfriend, an ugly feeling like jealousy coiled in the pit of her stomach. Miwa had been telling everyone that she’d quit volleyball on the principle of not changing her appearance for anybody, but nobody really understood what was only a partial explanation anyway. People began to talk about how she was vain, she was jealous, and most of all, she didn’t seem to like _any_ of the boys who were all but throwing themselves at her feet. Miwa accepted the next boy to stumble through a confession, unable to admit to herself why the sight of Nanako with a boyfriend was so upsetting to her but still needing desperately to quell these whispers. She couldn’t let everyone guess the truth that was slowly dawning on her as she watched Nanako with her boyfriend: that the real reason she’d quit volleyball was because she had an extremely unrequited crush on a girl.

Navigating high school as the older sibling of a very awkward little brother while her parents were absent and her grandfather fell further into illness— _all_ _while harbouring a secret gay crush—_ was not easy. More and more often, she turned to her bike and the feeling that was sort of like soaring, fighting gravity as she all but flew along the twists and turns of the roads around her increasingly lonely home. Her hair grew longer every day.

Her grandfather died. She graduated. She hadn’t spoken to that first boyfriend in the two years of high school since. Nanako got married.

Miwa cut her hair.

She enrolled in a hair and makeup program in Sendai so she could live at home with Tobio, who seemed to have started picking fights with his middle school classmates. While in college, when she had her second crush on another girl, Miwa finally admitted that she was lesbian and came out to her friends and family.

Now, newly-graduated and lucky enough to acquire an internship at a big modelling firm headquartered in Tokyo with satellite offices in Sendai, Miwa found herself thrust into a fast-paced job with a hectic schedule that was sometimes stretched over timezones as she was called to photoshoots all over Japan or even out-of-country. She did her best to juggle Tobio’s needs as a first year high school student with her own as a new employee in a demanding industry, lugging her bike on the train as she went back and forth between her parents’ house and the tiny studio apartment she’d started renting in Sendai so she could stay close to the firm’s office if she needed to. Miwa was competitive about doing well and doing her best, and she was determined to make this life and this career work despite her and Tobio’s unique situation. Sometimes, especially with Tobio more occupied with volleyball this year than ever, she was able to cut loose for an evening or a weekend and just ride her bike. It was the one part of her life that felt like letting go of worry, control, outside voices and just cutting loose.

Miwa loved to go fast.

🚲🚲🚲

She huffs as she pulls herself over the crest of a hill, legs bursting in her cycling tights on the last few strides before momentum finally catches her and she sits back onto the saddle for the downhill. A small wobble from her bike draws her eyes downward and she notices once again that it seems unbalanced. Miwa furrows her brow. She’s nearly back at her parents’ house after a weekend cycling trip around the prefecture. She’d checked and tuned her bike before the trip, but this has been a hard ride and her pannier bags have been unevenly weighted which must have thrown the bike out of alignment. As she nears the final stretch before she arrives at her parents’ house, she passes by a bike shop she’s never been to before. Quickly calculating as she eyes the cherry-red paint of the shop’s bright facade, Miwa concludes if she stops here she’ll only have a 15-minute walk down into the next valley to get home. This would be a perfect distance for her to shake loose her legs and cool down a bit, and she’d get home well before dark and plenty early enough to make Tobio a proper home-cooked meal for once. She pulls off the road and dismounts, clipping her helmet onto her pannier bags as she unhooks them from her bike. She stretches her bike shirt up to wipe the sweat off her brow, then has a sip of water before she squirts the last of her water bottle over her arms to wash away the sweat and dust of the road as best as she can. Shaking off, Miwa steps through the doorway of _Saeko’s Cycles_ , with the beautiful afternoon sunlight streaming in behind her.

There’s a young woman in a grease-stained coverall cinched at the waist sitting with her boot-clad feet up on the counter. Miwa stares at the lollipop she has precariously balanced on her lower lip, and the woman stares back at Miwa. The tinkling of the bell above the door as it closes behind Miwa seems to return her to her senses and she pulls the lollipop out of her lips with a smack.

“And here I thought it’d be better worth my while to close up shop early,” she says with a grin as she stands up. “C’mon in. Tell me what I can do ya for.”

Miwa plunks her saddlebags down on the floor and straightens with a huff, pushing errant strands of sweaty hair out of her eyes. The thought passes through her mind that maybe she should have stuck with her usual bike shop on the other side of town, if only to save herself the mortification of arriving sweaty and disheveled at closing time when this admittedly _very cute_ woman is the mechanic. But unlike her colleagues and the friends she’s stayed in touch with from college, this woman doesn’t seem the least bit concerned or offended by Miwa’s less-than-pristine appearance. In fact, her face is undeniably warm as she leans on the counter, talking animatedly about something as she tucks a choppy piece of bleach-blonde hair behind a heavily pierced ear. _Wait._

Miwa realizes with a start she’d been lost in her thoughts as the mechanic was talking and now she’s looking at Miwa expectantly, waiting for an answer to a question she didn’t hear. Miwa blinks back at her helplessly.

“I’m sorry, may I… may I have a glass of water?” she asks. The mechanic straightens up instantly, thankfully into a position that doesn’t allow Miwa a direct view down the front of those coveralls. She moves to the other side of the counter where a poster of a British punk band hangs on the wall, sliding her hand along the bottom and pulling to reveal a concealed mini-fridge. She turns and grins mischievously over her shoulder.

“This is so the boys don’t get to my good things,” she says. Miwa wonders idly who ‘the boys’ are as she glances over bottled iced coffees, a couple of beers, and an array of bento boxes in a daze. The woman pulls out a water pitcher and a few of the bentos and closes the fridge with her hip, leading the way into the back of the shop where Miwa can just see what looks to be part of a family home. “This way,” she urges when she notices Miwa hesitating.

Miwa gestures helplessly behind her. “My bike isn’t locked up out front.” 

“Oh, right. Gimme a sec.” The mechanic goes into the back to put the pitcher and bentos down then walks briskly back to the front door. She steps through it and turns to yell up at the front of the building from outside.

“Ryuu! Can you come down and bring a bike into the back for me? I’ve got a customer.” Miwa can’t see who she’s talking to but she guesses they give her attitude by her response. “It’ll take you 30 seconds, and _then_ you can go to Yuu’s.” She rolls her eyes. Miwa smiles, thinking of a similar exchange she’d had with Tobio a few days ago. There’s a brief pause and then Miwa hears heavy footsteps coming down stairs to the side of the shop. A teenage boy with a shaved head is carefully wheeling her bike into the garage as she’s whisked into the back of the shop by the cute mechanic. “Sorry, now lemme get you that glass of water,” she says, ushering Miwa onto a seat. Two glasses are poured and in an instant there are slices of lime, cucumber, and mint leaves pulled out of a bento and slipped into the water. Miwa stares in disbelief at the colourful glass and the larger bento, open on the table beside it to reveal slices of watermelon.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?” is all she can think to say.

The mechanic grins and winks. “Can’t ya guess? It’s Saeko. Infamous namesake of _Saeko’s Cycles._ ”

“Miwa,” she offers, putting a tentative hand around the cool glass Saeko has given her. Somehow she doubts this refreshingly down-to-earth mechanic has heard of _Kageyama Miwa Hair & Makeup Art’ _ s Instagram _,_ even if Miwa had been somewhat involved in Dior’s Spring show this year and was gaining quite an international following. She finds that somehow, this fact makes her relax as she is slowly drawn out by Saeko’s easy chatter.

Half an hour later, Miwa steps out into the evening. “I’ll take care of your bike myself,” Saeko calls out to her. “Come by whenever to pick it up; I’ll have it ready for you by tomorrow afternoon.”

Miwa thanks her and gives her a wave, then turns towards home with a gentle smile on her face and Saeko’s name on her lips.

🚲🚲🚲

Miwa tries not to let her disappointment show when she’s finally able to pick up her bike a few days later and is greeted at _Saeko’s Cycles_ by an older man behind the counter instead of Saeko herself. He has her laugh and a similar face, and he informs Miwa genially that his daughter took extra care with her bike and would be disappointed she’d missed handing it over to Miwa herself for her least favourite college class, of all things. Miwa smiles and thanks him as she pays, slipping the ticket that had been tied to her bike with her name in Saeko’s handwriting into her wallet with her card. She rides her pristine bike around the front of the shop a few times before the man gives her a wave and she turns it onto the road and away down the hill.

She’s glad to have her bike back, but before the end of the week she’s swept up in a hectic job at work that brings her to Tokyo for a whole week. When it finally quiets down by the end of the following weekend, Miwa goes directly from the studio in Tokyo to pick up Tobio from his training camp there and travel home with him.

Miwa winces as her kitten heels clack obnoxiously loud on the school pavement, echoing around the mostly-empty buildings of this Tokyo high school. Her grey suit isn’t nearly light enough to keep her cool on the hot summer’s day, and the glare isn’t stopped entirely by her dark sunglasses. The disorderly crowd of several teenage boys’ volleyball teams and a few coaching staff all go cringefully silent as Miwa approaches. She squares her shoulders and stops at the sidelines as unobtrusively as she can, waiting for Tobio to be finished. She’s just appraising proudly how Tobio looks at home with this group, and how that orange-haired kid seems to hang off him, when she hears the loud distinctive laugh of Saeko.

Miwa turns and to her absolute horror sees that poor Saeko has lost half her hair in what must have been a horrific accident. A strangled noise comes from Miwa’s throat as she steps a little bit closer. Saeko is talking animatedly to the same teenage boy Miwa had seen at the shop and a tiny energetic boy who seems absolutely enraptured with her story.

“Yeah, I cut it myself, Yuu,” Saeko is saying to the smaller boy, giving him a gentle punch on the shoulder. “Pretty punk, yeah?”

“Nee-san, you’re so cool!” the boy called Yuu replies. The boy who had carried Miwa’s bike into the shop previously looks embarrassed as Saeko tosses an arm around his shoulders.

“Ya hear that, little bro?” Saeko barks out a laugh. “Think I’m rocking the shaved head better than you. C’mon Yuu, give the undercut a feel.” Yuu reaches over and rubs the side of Saeko’s head where she’s apparently willingly shaved off her hair in the most uneven way humanly possible. Unable to witness any further crimes against hairdressers as Yuu’s hand comes away with a loose tuft of Saeko’s bleached hair still attached to it, Miwa promptly removes a pen from her lapel pocket and pulls out one of her business cards.

Underneath her logo and business information she writes: _Haircut on the house; please, just let me fix your hack job._ Before she can change her mind, Miwa strides over to Saeko.

“Saeko-chan,” she says, business-like and crisp. Saeko turns in surprise and when she sees her, her mouth gapes open.

“Mi...Miwa-chan,” she finally manages.

“For you,” she says, handing the business card to Saeko. Saeko reads it and her shock is almost instantly replaced with a look that says pure attitude as she crosses her arms. Miwa is definitely not looking at the way her crossed arms press her over her low-cut top, but she definitely also can’t help but notice the little bi flag pinned on her jacket right beside. Before her brain has a chance to catch up with the realization that _holy shit, Saeko is into women,_ Saeko is jutting out her chin in an aggressive way.

“Ya got a problem with my hair?” Saeko asks. Miwa’s pride rears its head and she looks down her nose at Saeko.

“Nothing that isn’t fixable, if you’re a professional,” she quips, following up with a sharp grin that Saeko eyes warily. Miwa catches sight of Tobio making his way to the edge of the group, looking like his social batteries are about to run out. “Fridays work best for me,” she says to Saeko as she excuses herself then pushes past her to collect her little brother. “Tobio!”

Miwa ignores the stares from everyone as she _clack clack clacks_ her way in her kitten heels and powersuit out of the schoolyard with a tired Tobio in tow.

🚲🚲🚲

She doesn’t hear from Saeko for a week, maybe more, and she thinks maybe she was too harsh on the poor woman. Despite her down-to-earth attitude and punk aesthetic, she guesses even Saeko cares a little about what others think of her hair. And if she wants to start getting anywhere flirting with the occasional sapphic woman she’s able to meet in her hectic life, Miwa has over a week to remind herself that she’s pretty much gotten this attempt all wrong. She still winces to think of the accidental rat-tail Saeko had left in her undercut, unable to fully see the back of her head; though to be fair to Saeko, she’d still been gorgeous even with that awful hack job. Miwa sighs, but work is busy as always, and she thinks she’s slowly getting over the disappointment of having driven away another woman with her pride and directness.

Monday comes and she’s in Tokyo for the week again, rushing to and from photoshoots with her company’s various studios. She’s just stepping into the glass-front doors and greeting the elevator attendant with a coffee thermos in one hand and her bag of hair supplies in the other when her work phone rings with an unknown number. 

Not thinking anything of it, she juggles her coffee and handbag as she answers immediately with a professional, “Kageyama Miwa.”

“Miwa-chan!” comes a boisterous voice from the other end. Miwa is silent for a moment and her mouth forms a perfect ‘o’ shape as she stops mid-stride, blocking the elevator doors. _Oh gods why did I give her my work phone number,_ is all she can think before the attendant ushers her hurriedly into the elevator.

“Miwa-chan?” the voice on the other end questions.

“Yes, hi Saeko-chan,” she responds hurriedly. “Sorry, this is my work phone, I was just in the middle of something,” she lies. Although, if one counted elevator doors as ‘something,’ she supposes it’s a half-truth.

“Shoulda given me your private cell,” Saeko laughs, unconcerned. Miwa is focusing all her energy on trying to sound normal as she combats the confusion of accidentally receiving an out-of-the-blue phone call from her crush while in the elevator at work. The elevator attendant gives her a look as Miwa scrunches up her face in embarrassment.

“I don’t take hair appointments on my private number,” Miwa grasps at something, anything, to make her sound like she’s got this situation under control.

“I don’t want your haircut,” Saeko begins. “This is a personal call.”

“Oh.” Miwa cycles quickly through shock and surprise before settling on excitement. “What is it, Saeko-chan?”

“You know the izakaya below Takinoue’s Electrical?”

“I know it,” Miwa says, trying to keep her composure and disliking the way her voice wavers. The elevator attendant is peering at her again.

“I want to meet you there. This Friday. I’ll be round after I close the shop, probably close to 8pm. You game?” Miwa feels her heart drop. _Tobio._ This Friday she’ll be with Tobio.

“I’m not sure when I’ll be home from work on Friday, and I’ve left my brother home alone all week,” she reluctantly admits.

“Ah. Gotcha. Well I’ll be there regardless, so come round if you can, but no pressure,” Saeko says easily. The elevator finally dings and Miwa steps out from the judgemental gaze of the attendant, into the bustling stage set-up of her first shoot of the week. Saeko must notice the change in environment as background noises crowd Miwa’s hearing. “Hah, where in the world are you right now? Paris? Geneva? Miwa-chan, please call me back later if you need to.”

“How did you know about Geneva?” Miwa hadn’t even spoken to her friends from college about that show yet.

“Hello, you gave me your business card? It’s the first thing on your Insta. C’mon, the shop was so slow yesterday, what’s a girl to do but scroll?” Miwa hears Saeko flop down somewhere, perhaps on the counter of the shop.

“I’m going to give you my private cell,” she finally manages. She should have started with that anyway; giving her a business card had been a somewhat regrettable way of trying to… flirt? Was she still trying to call it flirting? But she supposes at least Saeko has called her. At this moment, Miwa’s colleague spots her and begins crossing the room to her, already looking harried. Miwa knows she’ll have to end the conversation, and quickly. “I have to go, but can I text it to this number?”

“Yup!”

“Great. Nice talking to you Saeko-chan,” she says, her customary phone signoff saving her from further embarrassment as her brain still struggles to catch up.

“Later, Miwa!” Saeko calls cheerily. Miwa hangs up, sends a text with her private number immediately before she can lose her nerve, then adds Saeko’s name to the phone contact so she’s never surprised by an unlisted call from her again. Then she sits with a huff on the closest dressing table, closing her eyes as she leans back onto the mirror. She has approximately 30 seconds before her colleague whisks her away into the frenzy of the shoot, and she does a breathing exercise. She hears the phone in her purse buzz and she forces herself to smile; things are going well, despite it all.

She doesn’t have a moment to check her personal phone until she’s on the train back to her cheap hotel room in the evening, and she’s greeted with an array of texts. She answers Tobio’s first, directing him how to make eggs worriedly as she flicks through his questions about how to cook himself dinner with whatever she’d left in the fridge for him. Next she skims through texts from some friends, before finally opening Saeko’s.

_from Unknown, 9:17am_

> it’s saeko ;)  
> u never said where u were. geneva? or mayb london? :0  
> sorry if i put u on the spot at work. glad i’ve got ur personal # now. good luck!

_to Saeko-chan_ , 6:07pm

Hey Saeko, sorry I was super distracted on our call, busy day at work. I’m in Tokyo! <   
About Friday. I think I’ll have to stay home with Tobio (my little brother). <

_from Saeko-chan, 6:13pm_

> ah, no worries!  
> just lemme know if u change ur mind :)

Miwa clutches the phone tightly to her chest, hoping, praying, that she isn’t messing things up again. Tobio is the most important thing in her life, and she’d do anything for him; the two of them really only have each other. That being said, it sometimes feels like she’s his mother rather than his big sister. It’s hard enough to date with her job and her lifestyle, let alone with a teenager to care for. She leans her head closer to the glass window of the train, watching the lights in the tunnel flit by as she wishes for a single chance to make things work with Saeko.

🚲🚲🚲

Miwa catches the train to Sendai early enough on Friday and then hops on a bus home, making it to her parents’ house by 4:50pm. She changes into a pair of jeans and a simple short-sleeve blouse and starts cooking dinner, wrapping herself in an old checkered apron. Tobio is soon through the door with a volleyball clutched tightly in his hands, looking nervous. The reason for his nervousness becomes clear when that little orange-haired kid from the volleyball team steps in behind him, staring with bright, wide eyes. Tobio seems at a loss as to what to do but the small boy doesn’t seem to be fazed, and he immediately introduces himself as “ _Hinata Shoyo, thank you for having me Mrs. Kageyama-san!”_ Miwa laughs and corrects him—she’s Tobio’s sister, not his mother.

“Miwa nee-san will do, Shoyo-kun,” she says. Tobio still appears to be a little uneasy as he is not used to hosting, or even having friends for that matter. “Why don’t you two go toss the volleyball in the yard and I’ll call you when I’ve got food for you.” Tobio’s relief is tangible and Shoyo’s face lights up. Miwa can’t help but peek out at them as the evening wears on, smiling as she sees Tobio serenely pass the ball with his face tuned in that special way he has when he’s listening intently. Shoyo’s mouth doesn’t stop moving even as he gets more and more involved in returning the ball, and Miwa marvels at his athleticism. She even catches a glimpse of Tobio speaking a whole sentence to Shoyo, who barks something angrily back, and Tobio gives a tiny smile before Hinata bursts out laughing; it seems to Miwa like Tobio actually _teased_ Shoyo. She feels her heart rise up in her chest and claps gleefully to herself as she pulls the lid off the rice cooker, sending a puff of fragrant steam into her smiling face.

The boys fed and gently encouraged by Miwa to go watch a recorded volleyball match, she cleans up and checks her phone.

_from Saeko-chan, 7:41pm_

> have fun with ur lil bro :) <3

The heart emoticon is new; Miwa’s stomach flutters briefly at it. And it is really sweet of Saeko to be so understanding about this, especially considering her relationship with Tobio is not a typical one shared between siblings. She sends off a quick thank you text then sits down with her notebook and a pile of fashion magazines and a cup of tea, smiling at the string of chatter from Shoyo in the other room. 

When a little while later, she looks up from her notes to notice that the only sound she hears is the volleyball announcer on tv, she tiptoes into the room and finds Shoyo and Tobio asleep in front of the TV, Shoyo’s head leaning gently on Tobio’s shoulder. Resisting the urge to squeal at how cute it is, she quickly retreats and stands with her back to the wall in the hallway, calculating. If they’re worn out and ready to sleep, she could wake them up and send Shoyo home. But she’d seen his bike out front and she’d overheard him mention that he lives across the mountain from here. Better to let him stay over. She pulls the extra futon out and spreads it by Tobio’s bed. Then she wonders if, given the fact that Tobio isn’t alone, she can squeeze out that visit with Saeko after all. She peeks back in through the door at them. Seeing Tobio’s peaceful face helps her make a decision. Sneaking her way back into the kitchen, she quickly scrawls a note.

_Tobio,_

_I’ve gone out to visit a friend. Shoyo can stay over if he wants; I’ve put the futon by your bed. There are some snacks in the cupboard if you get hungry. Call me if you need anything, I’m just up the street!_

_-M_

Then, grabbing her purse and a light jacket and slipping on her shoes, she sends off a quick text to Saeko.

_to Saeko-chan_ , 8:37pm

Hey, change of plans. Tobio has a friend over! omw now <

Her phone buzzes almost immediately with a reply, Saeko sending her an all-caps “WOO!” Miwa smiles and tucks her phone in her purse, breathing in the late summer evening air.

She realizes as she is halfway there that she hadn’t even checked in the mirror before she left. Saeko is someone who, despite being Miwa’s current crush, didn’t make her feel self-conscious. She walks the rest of the way deep in thought at this realization.

A bright “Miwa-chan!” followed by a wave from the far end of the bar greets her when she enters the izakaya. Miwa makes her way over and sits beside her. The bartender asks Miwa her drink and starts preparing it as Miwa makes her greetings. She presses the lime into her freshly-made gin and tonic and looks at Saeko quizzically.

“I can’t believe I forgot about your god-awful haircut,” Miwa says, unable to resist as she takes her first sip. Saeko, to her credit, just laughs easily.

“Oh come on, Miwa, it’s called punk.” Saeko flicks one of the longer strands back. Miwa just raises her eyebrows at her. In the two weeks or so since she’d seen her, at least the shaved ‘undercut’ had grown out a bit, enough to hide the hacks she’d made a little bit. Her hair that's regrowing is black under her bleached hair above it, and the contrast looks pretty nice. Even though it’s an _awful_ haircut, Miwa wants to run her fingers along it. If she could just—

“Okay, stop staring at it, I’m not gonna let you cut it.” Saeko chuckles, nudging her with her elbow where she leans on the bar.

“Right. Sorry.” Miwa looks down at her drink. “I’ve always got work on the brain. It’s hard to turn off sometimes.”

“I get that,” Saeko agrees. “I basically live at the shop, even now that I’m in college. My old man doesn’t want me to work there forever, so he convinced me to go to school, but I don’t mind the shop. I haven’t decided what I’ll do with the rest of my life, but for now this is good.” Miwa admires thoughtfully how casually Saeko approaches her life. For her, it had always been about _getting there—_ whatever lofty goal she’d set for herself in high school—and now that she’s made it there, she feels like she might have rushed a little too quickly into it.

“What do you want to do, though?” Miwa asks.

“Loads of stuff.” Saeko grins. “Travel maybe, pick up the guitar, run away with somebody, ride my bike, whatever takes my fancy!”

Miwa smiles at this. Where her answer to ‘what do you want to do’ would have been about her career goals, she guesses Saeko simply does not dream of labour. “Sounds like fun. You bike?”

“Oh, yeah I do, but I was talking about my motorcycle.” An image is conjured in Miwa’s mind of Saeko in riding leathers and she tries not to blush. “Maybe motorcycle repair pays better than bicycle repair,” Saeko muses. “I’m pretty handy with the bike.”

“ _Saeko’s Cycles and Motorcycles._ I’d go there,” Miwa grins at her, and Saeko laughs. “You did a great job on the tune-up. That bike is my baby so I don’t just entrust it to anyone.”

“Glad to hear it, it’s a super slick ride!”

“It was my treat to myself after I got hired as an intern. Biking is the one thing… the one thing I have where I can just let loose. Work is so busy, and of course there’s Tobio…” she trails off, not wanting to expose too much of her brother to someone she’s really only met a few times.

“Yeah, Ryuu and Yuu told me a bit about him after we realized you were his big sister. Ryuu’s my little bro and Yuu is his best friend, by the way. They’re on the vball team too, in second year.”

“Oh?” Miwa’s stomach churns uneasily. She _hates_ to think of Tobio not getting along with his peers, but, well, he didn’t have a great track record.

“Yeah, they say he’s doing fine. They love him, and so does the whole team,” Saeko says. Miwa looks up, surprised.

“You’re serious?”

“I hear he’s a little bit different,” Saeko begins thoughtfully. “But Ryuu and Yuu and the rest of the boys, they’re all great kids, and they’re not bothered about that kind of stuff. All the second-years hang around our place above the shop pretty often, so I overhear more team gossip than what Ryuu will actually tell me. I hear there was trouble when the first-years joined, but it’s all smoothed over nicely now.” Miwa nods. That correlated with what she’s been able to glean from Tobio.

“Tobio… well, mum and dad aren’t around much so it’s just been us since grandad died. And he is a little bit different. I can get pretty protective about him,” Miwa says. “But I had noticed he seemed to have… a couple of friends now, which is new for him. That little orange-haired kid, Shoyo, is over watching volleyball with him right now.”

“Shoyo is such a cutie!” Saeko exclaims. “And hey, your little bro comes first, okay? I’m like that with Ryuu and Yuu.” Miwa smiles, relieved that Saeko seems to get it.

“Oh, and in case you’re worried, the team staff are great. I’ve been out drinking a few too many times with them.” Saeko huffs and leans on the bar, mumbling something about hangovers. Miwa is relieved at this too; she hadn’t been too happy with Tobio’s middle school coach.

“Thanks, Saeko. I’m always worried about Tobio, but this has helped.”

“Sure, Miwa!”

“Anyway, that’s enough about our little brothers.” Miwa downs the last of her drink, nodding at the bartender when he gestures at her empty glass. Saeko laughs.

“Yeah, Miwa, you never said, what do you wanna do with your life?”

“If you’d asked me before hearing your answer, I would have said something like ‘be a good employee’ or something lame. I already travel all the time for work, but I really only see airports and hotel rooms and studios when I do. But now I’m thinking—I’ve often wondered what it would be like to pack up my bike and just ride until I don’t want to anymore. Like, take some time off and just go, no route planned. Maybe just tour around Japan, maybe hop a flight and ride around wherever I land. But of course, I can’t do that.”

“Not yet, maybe. But you’ve got time.” Saeko finishes her own drink. She then asks the bartender for some water instead of a refill. “I drove the motorcycle here,” she says by way of explanation to Miwa.

“I’ve got time but I also feel like I’ve let my youth slip away trying to be an adult, and now I’m stuck in this grind. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but I feel like I don’t live at all outside of it. Would you believe this is the first time I’ve gone out for a casual drink in months? That’s why I really admire your outlook, Saeko. You do what you want, but you’re not irresponsible.”

“I can see what you mean,” Saeko answers thoughtfully. “It’s also hard when all your friends start doing different things and moving to different towns. And then there are the friends who get partners and forget they have any other friends,” she continues, but good-naturedly.

“Or worse, all your friends are cishets,” Miwa huffs, and Saeko snickers.

“So Miwa, you into girls or what? What’s your deal?” Saeko asks as if they were discussing the weather. Miwa, who couldn’t have uttered those words if she tried, did her best not to gape at Saeko’s confidence.

“Am lesbiab...lesbian,” she stutters, embarrassingly. Oh, what Miwa wouldn’t give to have one iota of Saeko’s charisma as she grins at Miwa’s flushed face.

“Nice. I’m bi, which is just a convenient way of saying I think everyone’s hot.” Saeko leans back against the bar and eyes the crowd in the izakaya. Miwa is sufficiently recovered only to nod. “But I’ll tell you a secret. I’ve got a thing for ladies on bikes,” she laughs.

 _Me too,_ Miwa thinks, but in her mind’s eye she sees not a bicycle but a motorcycle with Saeko straddling it, leather jacket unzipped at the front as she leans over the dash—

Saeko interrupts her train of thought with a nudge. “You ever been on a motorcycle?”

Whether Saeko guessed the direction her train of thought had taken, Miwa can’t tell, but she’s thankful she stopped her. Miwa shakes her head. “What’s it like?” she asks, grateful at least that she can speak despite the previous image.

“I could try to explain, or I could just show you. C’mon, let me take you for a quick spin before we go home.”

“Tell you what, Saeko. You promise you’ll drop me off at home by 11 and I’ll pay for the drinks,” Miwa says, finishing her drink. Saeko grins wolfishly.

“Deal.”

Exiting the izakaya, Saeko leads the way around the back where her sporty bike sits, gleaming.

“I borrowed an extra helmet from the mechanic, just in case I could convince you to let me take you for a spin,” Saeko admits sheepishly, pulling it out of the saddlebag. “It should fit, but it might be a little sweaty in there. I’m sorry if it’ll ruin your pretty hair.” Miwa just grabs it from her and shoves it on, Saeko making it easy for her to be uncaring for once about her ‘pretty hair.’

Saeko swings her own leg over then holds it steady as Miwa climbs on. When she’s sure Miwa is comfy and gripping the bike safely, she kicks off and zips out of the alleyway onto the main road, accelerating up the hill.

“You know how to take turns right?” Saeko yells over her shoulder.

“Lean into them,” Miwa yells back. “Just like on my bike.” Saeko nods.

“And hold tight!” Saeko replies. Miwa can’t be sure whether she hears a sly smile in her voice with the rising sound of the wind as they speed up, but she tells herself it’s not the time to be shy about touching her. _Do it for the road safety, if nothing else,_ she scolds herself. She inches herself closer and wraps one arm then the other around Saeko’s compact body. Once she’s settled in, Saeko accelerates one last time to get them over the crest of the hill. Miwa’s stomach flips as they come level and catch a glimpse of the city on the other side of the mountain, glittering as it tumbles away beneath them. She’s aware that she gasps, but it seems soundless in the roar of the wind and engine. Then the road curves and they lean together into it, Miwa looking down at the pavement as it rushes by faster than she’s even gone on her bike. The thrill of it makes her grip Saeko tightly.

“You scared? Too fast?” Saeko calls. Miwa can tell with certainty this time that Saeko’s voice is tinged with genuine concern.

“Faster,” she yells back. Saeko’s laughter is whipped away by the breeze.

🚲🚲🚲

When Saeko deposits Miwa, breathless and ecstatic, at her doorstep, it’s 11:07pm. She can see Shoyo’s bike still locked up by the side and she turns with a smile to say goodnight to Saeko.

“Ah geez. Guess I didn’t get you home by 11, hey? Maybe that means I owe you a drink some other time,” Saeko says, scratching the back of her head as she holds her helmet in her hand. For the first time this evening, Saeko looks nervous, and Miwa has to admit it looks extremely cute on her. Hopeless flirt that she is, Miwa finds that the adrenaline from the ride allows her to take the lead in this instance. She takes a step closer to Saeko and tilts her chin up with a gentle finger. Saeko’s lips part as she presses her own onto them, and Miwa takes a moment to drink her in.

“I’m willing to forgive the seven minutes if you’ll take me out again,” Miwa murmurs, then kisses her again. When she finally pulls away, Saeko is grinning.

“Deal,” she whispers, chasing after Miwa’s lips a third time.

Miwa watches from her front step as Saeko mounts her motorcycle again, tossing her choppy hair back before pulling her helmet back on. She waves as she kicks off and drives back out onto the road, ripping her way up the hill on her way home. Miwa stays staring after her until long after she can no longer see Saeko’s form in the darkness. She turns to go inside, sliding down the door to sit on the floor as she waits for her heartbeat to return to normal.

She huffs a quiet laugh to herself as she pulls her knees up to her chest and leans her head against them . “I’m such a goner,” she whispers to the empty room.

🚲🚲🚲

Miwa doesn’t mean to bring up the haircut again. She has begun making her peace with Saeko’s scruffy appearance especially as the shaved part grows out. She would never admit it, but she’s even started to _like_ that ‘punk’ appearance that Saeko wears so easily with confidence oozing in a way that Miwa admires tremendously. It’s hard not to when she can still see Saeko straddling her motorcycle in the yellow glow of the streetlamps as she shakes her hair back to squeeze her helmet on, clear as day in her mind. But whether it’s Saeko’s own doing or just rotten luck, they are texting about hair _again_ of all things, when what Miwa really wants to text is _when can I next see you?_

It seems, however, that just like Miwa is getting used to the idea of Saeko’s punk haircut, Saeko is also getting used to the idea of Miwa professionally cutting her hair. When she agrees to come over to Miwa’s tiny bachelor apartment in Sendai on Wednesday night, Miwa jumps up and grabs the pile of magazines that she’s dog-eared on pages that have haircuts she wants to see on Saeko. She refuses to acknowledge how incriminating it is to have bookmarked multiple haircuts for a crush.

She’s pulling her old set of tools that she’d used in college out of her bathroom cabinet and looking around for the best place to set up a chair before it dawns on her that _Saeko is going to be in her apartment._

A flurry of laundry and tidying later, Miwa finally plunks herself down on her couch, trying not to let her gaze drift to the place across the room where she’s set up a makeshift hairdresser’s station.

As she takes the train home from work on Wednesday, Miwa recalls her first meeting with Saeko back when she’d effortlessly served her slices of watermelon in the back of _Saeko’s Cycles._

Miwa tries to quell her nerves as she puts the key in the lock and makes herself a quick meal, putting Tobio on speakerphone while he cooks his own dinner. Kitchen explosion avoided, Tobio promises to go do his homework as Miwa wishes him goodnight. She’s unsurprised, though, when she hears the sound of a volleyball drop and dribble down the hallway, and she knows immediately he’s going to the backyard to practice. She lets him be, not having the heart to tell him off tonight.

She’s just finishing up the last of her dishes when she hears a motorcycle rip up the street, and her heart jumps. She’s quick to drain the sink and rip off the silly gag-gift apron she keeps in her apartment, embarrassedly tucking it into the cupboard where it belongs. Saeko is soon at her door, and Miwa whisks her in with a small smile to meet Saeko’s big grin.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Saeko says, pulling at the laces of her boots and placing her helmet on top of them once she’s removed them. Miwa waves her off and leads her into the main room that combines the kitchen and living space.

“Can I get you a drink?” she offers.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Saeko replies, placing her hands on her hips and looking around the small apartment with interest. Miwa hesitates, looking at her choices before she pulls two beers out of her fridge and pours them into glasses, handing one to Saeko.

“Ah, excellent. Didn’t peg you for a beer drinker. Cheers, Miwa-chan!” Saeko grins at her. Miwa clinks her glass and finds the tension in her shoulders loosen a little as she absorbs some of Saeko’s easy-going energy. “So, which way to my new ‘do?”

“Oh, well, I’ve picked out some haircuts in my magazines that would work with what you currently have. Do you want to start by looking through them?” Miwa gestures at her coffee table where she’s scattered some magazines open to various styles.

“Nah, I want you to pick. I trust you,” Saeko says. Miwa doesn’t know what to say to that, but she _does_ know the exact haircut she wants to see on Saeko now that she’s looking at her. She leads the way to the chair she’s set up, gesturing.

“Alright, then have a seat. Should I blindfold you?” Miwa can’t resist adding. Seeing Saeko blush as she actually starts to stutter out an answer is worth it. “Kidding,” Miwa cuts her off breezily, shaking the towel she’d pulled out to collect Saeko’s hair and settling it around Saeko’s shoulders. She can’t help but notice the flush extending around her neck, and a mole right at the edge of where her top covers her shoulder.

Miwa takes a sip of her beer and reflects thankfully on the fact that her nerves seem to have largely left her. She stands back, surveying Saeko’s hair thoughtfully.

“Normally, I’d wash your hair first, but I don’t have a big enough bathroom.” Miwa starts spritzing Saeko’s hair with water from the same spray bottle she uses to mist her plants. Then she’s pulling a comb through Saeko’s hair and running her fingers through the grown out undercut, revelling in the hum Saeko emits. Admittedly, she does it less to be professional and more to elicit Saeko’s pleased noise. “Okay, I’m starting, so you’d better cover your beer.” Saeko does and Miwa picks up her clippers, beginning with the undercut first. She’s almost too preoccupied doing the job to notice Saeko watching her closely in the mirror. _Almost_ too preoccupied; she feels a flush creep up her own neck at the gaze she feels, but she keeps her eyes on her work.

Towards the end of the haircut, Miwa leans in over Saeko to trim her bangs. She hears Saeko’s sharp intake of breath and then she feels her exhale into her chest. Miwa is self-conscious enough to realize she’s put her chest quite close to Saeko’s face as she leans over her lap.

“Don’t squirm,” she murmurs unapologetically into Saeko’s flushed face, whose eyes are now closed. Finished, she straightens and fluffs a hand through Saeko’s hair, looking it over approvingly. “There. That wasn’t so bad was it?” Miwa brushes gently at the clumps of hair on Saeko’s shoulders. Saeko grumbles but Miwa can tell she’s just pretending. “Still punk,” she says as she holds up a hand-mirror behind Saeko’s head for Saeko to see the back. Saeko eyes the cut then shakes her head a bit, watching it settle back down.

“Hmm. I think this is what I had in mind when I tried doing it myself,” Saeko admits sheepishly, grinning at Miwa. Miwa gives her shoulder a smack.

“Then let me do it for you, yeah?” She pulls the towel off and puts it aside folded while Saeko stands and stretches.

“Ok fine, but only because you’re a lot hotter than the barber around the corner from the shop,” Saeko says and clinks her beer against Miwa’s before downing the last of it. Miwa brings her own beer to her lips, meeting Saeko’s cheeky expression with a calculating stare.

Maybe it’s the beer. Maybe it’s how good Saeko looks with an actual haircut. Maybe it’s because she got to run her hands through Saeko’s hair for half an hour. Maybe it’s the fact that Saeko’s big mouth never stops egging her on. But for once, Miwa finds the courage to tease Saeko.

“You like to flirt and make me blush, Saeko-chan, but if I recall correctly you were too nervous to kiss me until I made the first move.” Saeko pales.

“I… you’re so hard to read, Miwa, I didn’t want to assume—”

“Maybe I wasn’t being clear. I want to kiss you.”

Saeko stares at her, eyes wide. Then she seems to collect herself, and a smirk darts across her lips as she takes a step closer.

“So kiss me, then,” she whispers, and pulls Miwa in.

🚲🚲🚲

**Author's Note:**

> Happy International Women's Day, my loves! It gives me great joy to be a part of the [Haikyuu WLW Bang 2021](https://twitter.com/HaikyuuWLWBang). Thank you so much to the excellent moderators for making this event happen!
> 
> Thank you to my [beta reader Tae](https://twitter.com/bakchimin) for being an AMAZING cheerleader with excellent help and advice. Good luck on your own pieces Tae 💜
> 
> Thank you to my artist Jess for your [SHOWSTOPPING JAWDROPPING ART](https://twitter.com/wishgrub/status/1368998818243633152?s=19)?!?!?!?!??! HELLO?!?!?!?! _SCREAMING_ 💜
> 
> You can [find me on twitter here](https://twitter.com/mogimeadow), hi sapphics come say hello 💜
> 
>  _Smacks fic_ this baby can hold so much projection! _*looks directly Away from Miwa's teenage confusion_...*
> 
> Also, if you were like "hey, Author-san, I'm sapphic and I cut my own hair >:( let me be punk in PEACE!!!!" rest assured that I also buzzed my own undercut AND cut my own hair. Sorry Miwa 😓 _crimes again hairdressers continue..._
> 
> Unrelated to the main pairing but... Tobio & Shoyo, whether platonic or romantic, through the eyes of Miwa makes me just 😭 I need a minute. Also we love our smol neurodivergent blueberry he is doing his very best 💙
> 
> I have plans to continue this story over the summer in a Part II. Please subscribe if you'd like to be notified when I do so!


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